I still see myself nipping at my German Hefeweizen beer on my newly decorated balcony in Jacksonville. The exhibition cancelled, the tournament full and yet another week of sunbathing, exercising and hitting Q-Ball Billiards every day ahead of me. What a life, huh?

Then at midnight, I just left “The Dome” after watching another 3D movie with Dan and Dee I receive an instant message from Bogee on my phone: “Hey Toasti, I heard they put you into the Philippine Open.” I said: “Hold on a second. Let me drive home and I will call you.” Right before getting home Biboy calls me: “Toasti, Yen put you in the event because Ruslan Chinakhov dropped out. But you have to confirm within the next four hours.”

I go online. Check simultaneously Expedia, Delta and every other airline known to man. After two hours or so I find a connection through New York, Hong Kong that would bring me into Manila at midnight, the night before the event. I start packing immediately, because two hours later I have to leave for the airport already.

Thursday, 11:55pm
Biboy picks me up, we drive home. Ralf is still awake, we go to bed at around 2am. I have a very good night sleep and surprisingly get adjusted quickly to Manila time and the 12hour difference.

Ralf has to play at 6pm, I play at 4pm. My first opponent I know very well. Ko Pin Chun, my final opponent from the All Japan Championships and brother of Ko Pin Yi. I think he is 15 years old and already a monster on the pool table. We both make good outs but also some errors. At 8:4 for me I miss and Ko starts coming back. At 8:6 I am forced to play a safety. Ko fires the kick shot in, then another back-cut inside english into pin point perfect position for the 6-Ball. He goes down and….accidentally moves the cue ball a diamond across the table with his bridge hand. Merry Christmas for me. I survive the first day with a small bruise only…

Another “highlight” happened in my match against Ricky Yang. Table three plays extremely boingy and I have a tough time getting used to the speed of some of the rails. Ricky gets on the hill first and has the chance to beat me. At 8:6 he has an almost straight in 9-Ball and the 10-Ball is sitting front of the other corner pocket. Instead of just stopping the cue ball and excepting a relatively easy 10-Ball he tries to force the cue ball into the rail and out, but…. misses. At 8:8 I break and run out! Weird…

On Saturday Ralf drives over me like a bulldozer 9:2. He did the same thing to Dennis Orcullo and later in the tournament to Antonio Lining. Now I have to face Carlo Biado from the Philippines for the semi final spot. I start out strong with break and runs, lead the match 6:0 when I hook myself behind the 10-Ball after a tough cut on the 8-Ball. The attempt kick doesn’t work and Carlo starts catching up. The match goes back and forth and at hill-hill I see maybe the most awkward layouts after a 10-Ball break ever. Seven balls all tied up on the rail where Carlo broke from. I am hooked, play a push. He tries a safety. I make the 1-Ball and play safety on the 2-Ball. He plays a kick safety but I return with a strong safety putting the 2-Ball behind the whole cluster of balls. He kicks and misses, messes up the cluster a bit. No way to run out from here still. With ball-in-hand I play a safety. He kicks, hits the 2-Ball but only leaves me a another safety with no guarantee of a hook. All I can do is create some distance. He banks the 2-Ball into a safety. I kick the 2-Ball in off the long rail with lots of inside english, can see the 3-Ball but I decide to play safety again. He kicks the ball into a great safety. What a shot. I miss. He has ball-in-hand but I would say a 60% chance of getting position for the 4-Ball. He hooks himself and fouls on the attempted three rail kick. With ball-in-hand I clear a pretty difficult rack and advance into the semi final against Liu Haitao from China the next day.

I don’t really feel like its the semi final of the Philippine Open. I am playing a guy from China and have six spectators sitting on my side. Behind me there is the Souquet-Lining match with ALL the attention. I somehow cant tighten up enough and see myself making too many mistakes. The match slips away. The score is 5:8 and I am standing with the back against the wall. No more extension, shot clock running down and all I have is a short rail bank across the whole table. I make it and run out. Another super tough break and run but at 7:8 I miss a tough cut down the table. Liu cuts the ball in but hits the 10-Ball on the way back and hooks himself. He fouls and gives me ball-in-hand. I run out and at 8:8 I have another clean break and run. Final!!!

The final with Ralf has everything. At first I play great and he makes a lot of mistakes. But every time I have a chance to extend my lead I just miss a shot. Actually I over-cut two shots because the TV table played a bit slippery than the rest. In the middle of the game Ralf gets help from mama fortune a few times. The highlight was his try to draw the cue ball into the 10-Ball which was hanging in front of the corner pocket. He misses by two diamonds but sets almost every ball on the table in motion. Eventually two balls kissed the 10-Ball into the corner pocket. The score is 5:5

I return to the table, run out and break and run. After another good break the cue ball gets kissed into the corner pocket. Now I start dogging it at several occasions. Once I miss an easy 9-Ball and then I play a horrible safety at 8:7 in my favor. Ralf looks like he is running out but overruns position at 9:10. He over-cuts the 2-Ball and I run out. At 10-10 I break, make a bank on the 1-Ball and run out for victory. I almost, excuse me, shit in my pants on the last 10. Cue ball frozen to the rail and I had a nightmare of me missing that shot last night.

What an incredible story. I still cant believe it. I have a lot of memorable tournament victories. My first one, the World 9-Ball Championships in Cardiff 2003, the IPT $350 000 dream tournament, my favorite game the World Straight Pool title in 2006, China, Japan, the BCA Open and many more but to win here in the Philippines is something special. There is just no other country where fans are so enthusiastic. Sometimes you feel like cursing at them, when they boo you or clap when you miss. But hell yeah, there are so many emotions involved, people truly LOVE the game and the players. And for me to win it after all those strange happenings, its simply magical.

I do feel a bit sad for Ralf, who showed an incredible performance over the past few days. He played perfect pool and the pool gods just were on my side that night. Ralf basically played in four consecutive finals. The US Masters, The Super Billiard Expo, The European 8-Ball Championships and now the Philippine Open. Ralf is the best of the best and still hungry like he just entered the pool scene. Its amazing. He wanted this title as badly as I wanted to win it myself and I feel for him. Ralf, you are the best!

A big thank goes to my friends Marika and Biboy Soriano. I hope there will be a time when you come visit me in Florida or Fulda, so I can pick you up from the airport, drive you around town, make you the best chicken adobo and bangus every morning, let you stay at my place, get you a new phone sim card every time you return, laugh, cry, listen and play with you. I can’t say thank you enough. You have truly become my family in the Philippines and I love you guys.

Before coming to the All Japan Championships this year I had only one thing on my mind and excuse me for my language on here now: “I don’t give a shit about luck and how well the others are playing against me. I am going to win this tournament. Nobody can stop me.”

Well, I wasn’t supposed to win and yes, there were a lot of high caliber players in the field, but there was one important difference now: The style I was playing! The fire, the commitment and the will to succeed, And it all starts in your brain…

I did my homework. For the past couple month I have been playing extremely well with decent results. 3rd place at the 14.1 event, 9th at the Open and 5th in Hollywood. Fans end experts kept saying to me: “Thats the old Thorsten, as we know him. Keep doing what you are doing and you gonna be a champion again.”

I practiced every day, did a lot of exercise (you can tell when you see me) and even changed a lot of my nutrition habits (hey, I cook for myself on a regular basis). Meaning, I was prepared physically for the event. And I have to admit that winning the All Japan Championships has been a big dream and goal for myself since I started coming here almost ten years ago.

No other tournament in the world has a longer tradition. 43 years already, the name of champions is very colorful. When you win, it feels like you are being honored into the eclectic circle of samurais in Japan.

128 players, a pitty in my opinion that none of the Americans made their way across the pacific, only three Europeans but the best of the best in Asia.

We played 9-Ball, double elimination race to 9 till the last 32, from there on single knock out race to 11. Winner breaks, rack your own and we used a new template thats permanently put on the cloth.

In the group stage I wanna mention two situations. In my second match I had another nice come-back against a Japanese player. After being down 0:5 I started playing pool to came back and beat him 9:7

And to qualify I had an intense match against Tomo Takano. At the score of 8:7 for me, he had to bridge over the 9-Ball, called a referee on himself !!! and made in my opinion a good hit. The referee called a foul and gave me ball in hand with three balls left on the table. I felt bad for my opponent and wasnt sure what to at first. I thought about scratching myself but then I guess my ambition kicked in and I figured that the referee might have seen something that I must have missed from where I was sitting.

The final stage was a lot of fun for me. I must have ran seven racks or so on average and had cruising wins over reigning China Open champion Yu-Lung Zhang with 11:3, an 11:4 over Shintaro Sugaya and a dominating 11:2 over Jeffrey the Luna who had previously made a hell of a come-back against Takenaka. Trailing 2:9 he ran the entire set to eleven.

In the semi final I beat Japanese star Yukio Akagariyama 11:6 and my surprise opponent in the final was Ko Pin Yi’s younger 15-year old brother Ko Pin Chung who defeated players like Mika Immonen, Ronato Alcano and Che-Wei Fu. I had him 10:2 after only a few innings when he ran six racks with a few lucky shots and a safety, but the way he was playing impressed me. Like in practice at home with his brother in Taipei. Luckily for me Ko scratched on the break at 10:8 and I was able to clear the rack.

I wanna keep the good spirit and attitude up. I learned a lot about myself in the past few weeks and have never felt better with my equipment before. My new shafts play absolutely awesome. Thank you Lucasi Cues and Simonis Cloth for your support !

Most photos taken by my friend Takao Takayama. Go visit www.onthehill.jp

We had roughly 80 players in a 128men chart, 10-Ball, no call shot (just like 9-Ball) double elimination, race to 9, winner breaks, rack your own, 10 doesn’t count on the break.

To take the excitement but most of you know anyway, Earl Strickland beat Shawn Putnam for the $20 000 in the final. I saw Earl on typical bad behavior during some of his matches but he showed some old skills with his stick. I have to give him credit.

After a “bye” I made a good come back against my second round opponent Steve Moore. After being down 1:4 I beat him 9:4. Also had important wins over Ernesto Dominguez, Donnie Mills and Tony Crosby.

In the match I lost against Shawn Putnam he simply out-broke me. Shawn found a way to properly rack the balls and managed to get one down almost every single time. When I got a shot I had to fight through every single rack, because the break wasn’t working for me.

Darren played solid against me. I came with some trick shots, for example kicked a ball in over three rails to face a tough shot which I missed. Happened a few times in that match.

5th place finish

Personally I was satisfied with my performance here. The trend shows that I am gaining pool strength back and I wanna keep it this way. I know I still have a lot to catch up to reach my “old form” but I am confident that I am on the right track

All Japan Championships in Amagasaki and Turning Stone upstate NY for me next…

Thoughts:

The rack your own has become very popular these days. It has one advantage (only if winning on the break isn’t possible) – there is less arguing about a bad rack. “The player racks his own destiny”.

However, it also adds a couple more skills to the game.
The knowledge and skill to give yourself a good rack, to “read it right” and the ability to reproduce the same break over and over again.

The translation:
The player who knows where certain balls have to be touching, where to leave the gaps and HOW to manage to get them the same every time, has a huuuuuge advantage over a player who “just does his best” at racking.

Years ago players would just rack the balls somehow, trying to get them frozen and hit them with superhuman power to get a good spread.

Today’s break specialists are smart and skillful ball rackers

I guess that’s the games natural evolution and we pros have to be open minded and be willing to learn all the tricks in order to compete. The ignorant ones who “just break” might not get the necessary result and more chair time.

It’s still one of my dreams and ultimate goal to win this event. I came close in 2004 when I had to bow to Gabe Owen in the final. Unfortunately only the champion gets a free entry to the Open and super status for life.

In my first round match I escaped Jonathan Pinegar who had a match ball to beat me. I banked the 9 of the short rail, had a break nine next and then broke and ran to win.

Of of my personal highlights was my match against Lee Van Corteza. For many players and fans he is the hottest Filipinog player today and I had to be prepared. The day before my game I noticed that my favorite shaft had gotten warped. I called Lucasi Cues and had them taper down a new one for me. I received it the day of my match, took it to QMaster Billiards and….loved it!!!

Lee Van had me 7:2, played absolutely flawless and good safeties when I got my chance. I was watching his break earlier and adapted to it. I ran five racks to tie the game 7:7 when I came dry next. He played a push into a jump. I let him shoot. He made it, tried to break up a cluster on the next shot, but just missed to break the balls up. He had to bank the next one in and break up a different cluster, which he did. Then he dried to spin a ball in to open up the first cluster, missed the ball but opened the problem. Unfortunately I could only see the edge of the ball and had to shoot it into the rail for a combination. I made the ball and banked the next one to win the rack. I finished the set from there. I felt proud of myself. The match will be available on DVD through accu stats.

I had another comeback against Daryl Peach after being down 1:6 and looked super strong. I almost received a comeback to Jesse Engel, who had defeated Earl Strickland and Mike Sigel before me. I was up 10:4 when he almost tied the match with perfect play. I escaped that one.

Then I caught a bad day. Again I started strong against David Alcaide, ran the first three and then a very unlucky scratch. I never really had a chance from there. He played well, received all the rolls and I couldn’t get a shot anymore.

Same thing happened to me against Rodney Morris. He early figured out how to rack the balls and just kept running out. When I won a rack I couldn’t make a ball on the break. Whenever he missed or kicked at a ball, I had no shot.

That’s pool and I have to except it. Many fans told me afterwards that that was the Thorsten they know from 2006.

I’m happy with my performance just wish I would have made it a little further in the tournament. I’m looking forward though to the Steve Mizerak Championship down in Hollywood Florida and the All Japan Championship.

A few month ago I was approached by multiple Canadian Junior Champion Daniel Hathaway. He has been supporting the Multiple Sclerosis Society by doing events and this year he wants to take it to a higher level. Together with River City Games he has raised over $15 000 for the MS society and me and him will do an exhibition match at the West Edmonton Mall on October 3rd.I wanna thank my sponsor Lucasi Hybrid Cues for taking care of my expenses and supporting the event. I am looking forward to explore a new country, make new friends and help Danny on his mission to support multiple sclerosis research.

Pool is a very serious sport and I love it. Speed Pool however can be extremely entertaining for the spectators and challenging for the players as well. You need to recognize patterns quickly and find the “stop shots” so the cue ball won’t move too much because that costs time. And the goal is to clear a table of 15 balls in as little time as possible.

While I was playing the US Open 10-Ball in Las Vegas I sad down for lunch with Dave and he told me that Matt Braun and Alan Hopkins are still looking for the fourth player in their International Speed Pool Challenge this year. “I can play fast.” I said and after a couple phone calls I was in for the “audition” to be the fourth player besides Dave Pearson, Luke Salvas and Bobby McGrath.

I had to video tape myself playing speed pool according to the official rules and after an hour or so I was averaging one minute racks, even had a 46 seconds on tape.

The event will take place at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada. Thats about nine miles from the Las Vegas airport and the whole competition will be held in only one day on September 1st. It’s going to be ESPN televised so you guys check back on my blog as I will post show times once I find out.

Unfortunately my end came to early against Ko Pin Yi from Taiwan. Was a pretty good match, I missed one shot in the side I should not have missed, scratched once, he got lucky one time and I reversed a call by the referee that could have brought me the game. Our match was the very first one to be shown live on ESPN/Star Sports all across Asia, so at least I got a little exposure.

All together I think it has been a very nice organized event. Could need a little tweaks here and there concerning price money structuring and table set up but on the other hand we’ve had fantastic PR and a smooth handling of the event. I hope Guinness will continue to support pool as I believe most casual pool players are potential customers for the brand. Ask winner Mazon: “Why not have a Guinness after a great tournament?! He deserves it.”

Most favorites qualified with two straight wins, but some top players still have to earn their spot and come back tomorrow morning. Raj Hundal, Karl Boyes and myself lost in the very first round. Other players such as Mika Immonen, Ronato Alcano or Indonesian star Ricky Yang lost their second match.

And because I can’t decribe my game other than “ugly” I will post some “pretty” shots of the venue instead…

The opening ceremony was well organized. The representatives for Guiness, ESPN and the Indonesian Pool Federation gave speeches and as far as I recall Guiness has signed a three year deal with ESPN to host the tournament in Asia.

The media attendance was alright, much better than in Europe or America. Mika and Ricky gave some short speeches in behalf of the international players and afterwards Shane, Alex, Stevie and myself had the opportunity to answer some of the hosts questions about how we feel to be here.

To be honest, so far I enjoy the event. It’s one of the best organized events I have attended. It started with a very professional photo shoot in Philadelphia back in March. I then flew to Medan in June to represent the international players during a local qualifying event and now it all comes together here in Jakarta to the grand final.

I spotted some promotional clips on ESPN television for the event. I think thats what we need and helps to grow the sport. In the States you have to turn in and be lucky that pool is on. At least I haven’t seen ads for pool during other sport shows. At the grocery store I found a huge Guiness section with posters of the players and ads with pictures of us on all the beer products. Thats pretty cool.

I wish the prize money was structured a bit differently. $40 000 to the winner but only $10 000 for second and the further break  down is even worse. I don’t know how they would attract a lot of people to come from overseas and play the qualifier unless those players find sponsors. If you come from Europe and pay everything out of your own pocket you have to finish in the top four to earn a little bit of money. And the field is super strong.

Easier for the Filipinos. They don’t have the big plane ticket expenses and the money is worth a bit more in the Philippines. No surprise that there are more than ten contestants here.

The venue looks beautiful. The TV table arena for ESPN and Star Sports has been custom made in an elegant Guinness black and gold style and the mall is fully decorated with advertising for the players, the sponsor and the event.

I wish there was a little lounge only for the players. The way the organizer has been promoting us as super stars I can only imagine how it’s gonna be tomorrow. Would be nice to have a place to hang out and relax in between games, but I guess one of the countless coffee shops will do.

Traffic sucks here. Sometimes it seems faster to walk then to spend an hour in the bus moving only inch for inch.

I am looking forward to play. After my two week vacation in Fulda I am hungry to play some pool. My first match is at 4.30pm against local player Rahmansyah. It’s only a race to six in the double elimination stage, so let’s see how that goes…

Für Hohmann begann das Turnier viel versprechend, denn er marschierte unbesiegt durch die Vorrunde. Vier Erfolge standen zu Buche, und zwar gegen Nils Kranich (5:1), Michael Hemminger (5:3), Thomas Schnurr (5:1) und Frank Gebert (5:3). Auch in der Finalrunde lief es zunächst gut für den zweimaligen Weltmeister. Danio Radunovic (8:4) und Thomas Cermin (8:2) bezwang Hohmann auf dem Weg ins Viertelfinale, wo er auf einen starken Dominic Jentsch traf. Jentsch zeigte eine nahezu fehlerfreie Leistung, ließ Hohmann kaum eine Chance und gewann letztlich deutlich mit 8:2.

„Es war gar nicht geplant, dass ich bei diesem Turnier spiele, da ich Urlaub habe und erst in der kommenden Woche wieder einsteigen wollte“, erklärt Hohmann. „Ich kann mir nur vorwerfen, für dieses Turnier nicht genug trainiert zu haben. Aber ein fünfter Platz ist unter diesen Umständen ein ordentliches Ergebnis. In den vergangenen Jahren habe ich in Deutschland nur Turniere der Eurotour gespielt. Deshalb war es schön für mich, nach fünf Jahren mal wieder bei einem anderen Event in Deutschland anzutreten.“

Die Veranstalter hatten mit großem Aufwand mehrere HD-Kameras installiert und diverse Partien live im Internet übertragen, darunter auch die von Thorsten Hohmann.

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